Tulsa
TCU
Golden Hurricane Opens Season Against TCU on Saturday at 6:30 PM
11/26/2020 9:31:00 AM | Men's Basketball
| GAME #1: TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE (0-0, 0-0) vs. TCU Horned Frogs (1-0, 0-0) | |
|---|---|
| Date/Time: | Saturday • Nov. 28, 2020 • 6:30 p.m. (CT) |
| Site: |
T-Mobile Center (18,972) • Kansas City, Mo. |
| Coaches: | Tulsa – Frank Haith (Elon '88), 7th year TCU – Jamie Dixon (TCU '87), 5th year |
| TV: | ESPN3 | Chuckie Kempf (pxp) & Mark Adams (analyst) |
| Radio: | Big Country 99.5 FM (Bruce Howard & J.R. Rollo) |
| Live Stats: | Live Stats |
| Series: | 35th Meeting (Tulsa leads series at 22-12) |
| Twitter: | @TUMBasketball | @TulsaHurricane |
| Instagram: | TulsaMBasketball |
| Game Notes: | Tulsa (PDF) | TCU | American |
The Game
• Tulsa will take on the TCU Horned Frogs in a neutral site matchup at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo., during the first round of the Hall of Fame Classic powered by ShotTracker on ESPN3.
• The game will be the regular season opener for Tulsa ... the Horned Frogs opened with Houston Baptist on Nov. 25 … the winner will face the winner of the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Liberty Flames on Sunday, Nov. 29 at 2:00 p.m.
Scouting the Horned Frogs
• TCU was picked to finish ninth in the Big 12 Preseason Poll. The Horned Frogs return two starters and six letterwinners from last season, when the team went 16-16 and 7-11 in conference play.
• The Horned Frogs opened their season with a win on Nov. 25 defeating Houston Baptist, 69-45.
• TCU returns RJ Nembhard who was the only Big 12 player to total at least 350 points (350), 100 rebounds (108) and 100 assists (102) last season, and they return Kevin Samuel who was one of two players in the country to average 10 points, 8 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game last season.
• TCU welcomes three freshmen who have a rating of four stars and four players who redshirted last season; they will look to fill the void left by 1st round NBA draft pick Desmond Bane, who accounted for 25.4 percent of the Horned Frogs points last season.
The Series
• This will be the 35th contest between the Golden Hurricane and the Horned Frogs.
• Tulsa holds a 22-12 series advantage over TCU, but the teams are 3-3 in neutral site games, with the Horned Frogs taking the last neutral site contest in Anchorage, Alaska on Nov. 29, 2013, 72-65.
• Tulsa is 11-4 in the last 15 games against TCU … the Horned Frogs have won the last two meetings.
A Tulsa Win Would
• Improve TU's record in season-openers to 70-40.
• Move Tulsa's all-time record against TCU to 23-12.
• Give the Hurricane three straight years of victories in season openers.
LAST SEASON AT A GLANCE
• Tulsa shared the American Athletic Conference regular season title with Cincinnati and Houston.
• Tulsa has now won or shared 11 league titles in school history with 10 coming in the last 36 seasons.
• It was the first AAC title for Tulsa in its 6 years as a league member …Tulsa also placed among the top-4 in the AAC regular season in 4 seasons, including 2nd in 2014-15, 3rd in 2015-16 and 4th place in 2017-18.
• Tulsa has now won a league championship in 4 leagues – Missouri Valley (6), Western Athletic (3), Conference USA (1) and the American Athletic (1).
• The 21 wins for Tulsa is the most since posting a 23-11 record in 2014-15.
• Coach Haith captured his 100th win as Tulsa's head coach with the Hurricane's 78-47 victory on Wednesday, Nov. 27 against South Carolina State … he coached his 500th career game vs. SE Louisiana earlier this year on Nov. 20.
• Tulsa averaged 67.8 points last year, while Tulsa's returners averaged 46.9 points and the newcomers 20.9 points ... Tulsa held opposing teams to 63.5 points a game.
• Seven Tulsa players average over 20 minutes of playing time led by Brandon Rachal's 29.3 minutes per game
• Senior forward Martins Igbanu was named the league's Sixth Man of the Year … Igbanu averaged 16.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 61-percent shooting from the field and 70-percent from the free throw line in 18 games off the bench during the AAC campaign. (see page 2 for more info)
• Igbanu and junior Brandon Rachal were named to The American's all-conference team as Igbanu was a first team selection and Rachal earned third-team honors. (see page 2 for more info)
THE SENIORS
• Tulsa's 4 seniors, Elijah Joiner, Darien Jackson, Brandon Rachal and Emmanuel Ugboh, were vital in the 21-10 and 13-5 conference championship season in 2019-20.
• Jackson and Joiner, who have played 4 seasons with the Hurricane, have been a part of 79 wins in their Tulsa careers, while also helping the Hurricane win 46 American Athletic Conference contests.
• Rachal and Ugboh started in their first season with Tulsa in 2019-20 after transferring from junior college.
• Rachal was named to the 2020-21 preseason all-AAC team, after averaging 12.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.5 steals last season.
• Joiner comes off of his best season in a Hurricane uniform, averaging 7.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.9 assists, which led the team. He secured his career high against Wichita State, scoring 22 points and making the game winning three-pointer as time expired.
• Jackson came on strong last season making 54-percent of his field goals. He put in 7.9 points, while grabbing 3.4 rebounds and averaging 1.4 steals for TU.
WHAT THE TRANSFERS WILL BRING THIS SEASON
• Tulsa currently has 3 players – Keyshawn Embery-Simpson, Curtis Haywood II and Ryan Gendron – who sat out the 2019-20 season due to the NCAA transfer rule.
• Embery-Simpson played his freshman season at Arkansas in 2018-19 ... averaged 4.1 points, 1.2 rebounds and 14.6 minutes per game ... scored a season-high 16 points in road contests at Ole Miss and LSU.
• Haywood II played his freshman and sophomore seasons at Georgia Tech ... appeared in 44 games with 23 starts and totaled 243 points (5.5 ppg), 121 rebounds (2.8 rpg), 94 assists (2.1 apg) and 47 steals (1.1 spg).
• He made 19 starts and ranked third on the team with 59 assists and 39 steals as a sophomore in 2018-19 ... scored a career-high 18 points in a win over ECU behind a 3-for-5 effort behind the arc.
• Gendron attended Oklahoma State on a baseball scholarship and redshirted in the 2019 season ... he was a three-year basketball letterwinner at Bishop Kelley High School ... averaged 21 points per game as a senior and was an honorable mention all-state pick.
#LoyalAlwaysTrue
